Young Throats
by DlRGE
Summary: In which Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu is lonely and Nagito Komaeda is the only one who's there to listen.


It happens quickly. Honestly, if you had told Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu that, one day, he'd be in romantic relations with a _male_, well. You would find yourself in a spot of trouble.

See, Kuzuryuu isn't gay. He has no intention of ever becoming gay, either. He likes girls. Specifically, A Girl.

And then they are put on an island. And then she kills for him. And then she dies.

And then, she dies.

Nagito Komaeda is crazy. But he listens.

"It was wonderful," he says, "how willingly she fell for you! Peko-sama was truly beautiful, wasn't she? To give her life to see you shine bright-"

Kuzuryuu punches him and leaves. Komaeda rubs his wounded cheek and waves after him. Crazy.

But Kuzuryuu comes back. Komaeda has a way of talking that draws you in, wraps around you and chokes the words out. They have conversations, long ones that consist of Kuzuryuu ranting and crying for an hour, and then Komaeda ranting and laughing until Kuzuryuu gets fed up and storms out.

But it helps, strangely. Komaeda is a lunatic, but his crazed words are always somehow exactly what Kuzuryuu needs.

-0-

When Komaeda gets sick, Kuzuryuu is the only one to visit him, save Hinata.

"He's a sociopath, that's what he is." Hinata spits. Kuzuryuu nods, because there is no denying it.

"Both of you need to leave, you disgust me!" Komaeda calls from his hospital bed. Kuzuryuu looks at him, and Hinata storms off.

The hospital gown makes him look smaller, somehow. He is pale, almost snow white in contrast with the dark purple bags under his eyes.

"Disgusting," Komaeda repeats when Kuzuryuu comes in and sits by his bed. "You're the only one that doesn't care, get out."

"Yeah," Kuzuryuu agrees, "You're the only one that doesn't care about me, too."

Komaeda smiles and looks away.

-0-

He's imagined this scenario thousands of times before, but with someone else. Komaeda's mouth feels amazing wrapped around him, though, so Kuzuryuu threads his fingers through ash blonde hair and imagines silver, instead.

-0-

They meet up on the beach one day, long after everyone else is in bed. It is accidental, but neither reject the aspect of company.

Komaeda is coming back from the direction of Hinata's hut, and says, "I think they all hate me. He's scared of me."

Kuzuryuu nods, "Everyone is," he says before mentally kicking himself.

Komaeda doesn't look offended, though. Instead, he looks thoughtful. "I honestly don't blame them. I'm scared of myself too, you know!" He looks too cheerful about it. "I wish you all could see how amazing you all are. Nothing but the best for the Super High School Levels!"

"You're amazing too!" Kuzuryuu blurts out. "Don't talk so badly about yourself all the time! Retard!"

Komaeda blinks. Komaeda smiles. "That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me, Fuyu-kun!"

That's sad, Kuzuryuu thinks as Komaeda's fingers thread through his. That's very, very sad.

-0-

After a few days, when the relationship is better established, they decide to keep it a secret. Well, Komaeda does.

"I don't want them to treat you differently because you're involved with trash like me, Fuyu-kun!" he says, bare feet digging into the sand. They're hidden behind an alcove, naked from the waist up, and Kuzuryuu looks at the patterns the crabs have traced across the sand.

"I don't fuckin' care," he spits, "if they treat me differently. They shouldn't treat you like crap, either. No one deserves that."

Komaeda blinks. "That's sweet, Fuyu-kun! Even garbage like me can appreciate that."

"Yeah, well." Kuzuryuu grumbles and leans over to kiss his (boy?)friend.

The kisses they share are wet and badly applied, and sand gets everywhere but both ignore it. Souda is calling for him from the mainlands and Kuzuryuu wraps his arms around the taller boys neck.

-0-

Komaeda, it turns out, is broken. He's shattered beyond repair, and Kuzuryuu tries to pick up the pieces and remind him to shower and change his socks. He kisses him good morning and listens to him talk and remembers what it was like when he was scared of him, too. Part of him still is, the fear lurking inside the folds of his brain and the parts of their relationship that they don't talk about.

Komaeda is broken and Komaeda is sick and Komaeda is dying, with every passing second they spend on the island.

Maybe Kuzuryuu is broken, too. But he doesn't kiss Peko anymore. He kisses Komaeda and doesn't, won't, can't think of the day when one finds the other and Monobear calls out, announcing a body

"I love you, Fuyu-kun!" Komaeda says when Kuzuryuu is falling asleep. The taller boy is wrapped around him, ribs digging into Kuzuryuu's side. Kuzuryuu's fingers, tracing shapes onto Komaeda's bare back, pause.

"I, uh." He pauses. "I love you too."

Komaeda's smile stretches across his face and doesn't vanish when Kuzuryuu kisses it.

And, what do you know, Kuzuryuu is telling the truth.

(The next day, Komaeda vanishes and the bomb threats begin. The gangster isn't sure what he feels, anymore.)

-0-

And then the room is red, red, red, and the object jutting out of Komaeda's stomach reminds Kuzuryuu of Peko, and he begins to retch.

Everyone else looks horrified. One of them killed him. One of them killed Komaeda and, in the process, killed Kuzuryuu too.

He thinks of his older sister, and wonders when everyone will stop leaving him.


End file.
